


Parkstone: The Dark Night

by NikoIsNotReal



Series: The Parkstone Collection [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Amateur Writing Skills, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Dark, Friendship, Horror, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Night Terrors, Sad, Surreal, it gets dark real quick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25371748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikoIsNotReal/pseuds/NikoIsNotReal
Summary: After recently revitalising their friendship, Miles decides to spend the weekend at Titus’. Shit hits the fan from there.Takes place before Snowdown and Last Plane Out of Here.
Series: The Parkstone Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834681





	1. Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miles arrives at Titus’ for a cool weekend of general friendshippy tropes. It doesn’t go well.

Miles felt a grin find its way on his face as he stood outside of Titus’ door, his overnight bag hanging off his shoulder. The two 15-year-olds just recently revived their friendship after months of not talking to one another, and Miles was pretty stoked. Titus suggested that Miles spent the weekend at his, to really solidify their renewed friendship. Well, actually, it was more like Miles insisting that he should stay for the weekend, and Titus just sort of going along with it.

Despite not seeing each other for months, Titus was still the same stoic wolf he always is. Miles found that comforting. Miles was snapped out of his thoughts as Titus called his name from the other side of the screen door.

“Hey.” He said. “You’ve been standing out here for like, the past four minutes. Come in.”

Miles felt a bit red at this, as he realised that he got lost in his reminiscing again. That’s been happening a lot lately. “So…uh, it’s been a while.” Miles started awkwardly as he followed Titus into the house. “Yeah. It has.” Titus deadpanned back at him, but Miles suspected that he was probably more happy than he let on.

Miles followed Titus into his room, as he found that there was only a bed and a sleeping bag. “We don’t really have a spare mattress… we only have this.” Titus said. “Oh, that’s fine, I guess.” Miles said. He set his bag down next to the doorway as Titus pulled a sleeping bag from the wardrobe and laid it on the floor. The two stood in silence for what felt like minutes. “So. What do you wanna do?” Titus asked.  
  


* * *

Miles sat in a spare chair at Titus’ desk as they scoured the Internet, Titus’ computer sitting comfortably on the desk in the home study. The two had decided that watching clips from YouTube was a viable source of their time. Skipping through the clips like it was nothing, and time seemed to flash by. Miles looked at the computer’s clock. 5:00PM. Wow, it was already an hour and a half later? It certainly didn’t feel that long. It was starting to get dark in the study, and Miles suddenly found himself feeling kind of claustrophobic, like something had a tight hold on his chest.

“It’s pretty late. I wonder what’s taking my folks so long.” Titus said, taking Miles’ attention away from his chest.

“Do they work late this often?” Miles asked.

“Sometimes. It’s a good thing, because sometimes they bring home some Maccas.” Titus replied, with no inflection as usual.

“Huh. Well, Maccas would be pretty good. My parents’d probably stop me hanging out with you if they found out.” Miles said, and received an odd look from Titus.

“Why would they do that?” He asked. Miles shrugged. “Ehh, they’re kind of health crazy.”

Titus raised an eyebrow, then lowered it. “Okay…” He said. “That’s weird.” As he turned back to the screen, as Miles felt the grip on his chest tighten.

‘ _oh god did I say the wrong thing there shit shit i shouldnt have brought that up that stuff is weird people think thats weird miles.’_ The thoughts rushed through his head at a million miles an hour. He didn’t wanna fuck up this friendship again, not like before. He didn’t wanna spend the holidays without a friend god damnit. Wait. He could save this.

“Hey, I know a game we could play!” Miles nearly yelled, startling Titus. “What?” Titus asked. Miles grabbed a gaming controller sitting on the far side of the desk as he opened Steam on Titus’ computer. “Uhh, it’s this free multiplayer game I found on Steam a little while back, it’s called Group Creatures, it’s one of those rag doll fighting games!” Miles said. “Hm. That sounds fun.” Titus said. “Y-yeah, cool. Uh, I’ll set it up on your computer, just go grab the spare controller I brought in my bag.” Titus nodded as he walked out of the study.

‘Ok, cool.’ Miles thought, a relieved smile on his face. ‘Now just gotta… download that and… done!’ Miles sat patiently as the game downloaded, when he heard Titus come back into the study. Looking up, Miles felt the smile drop from his lips and the blood from his face as he saw what Titus was holding in his hand.

“What’s this?”

Shit. It was a night light. Miles practically leaped up from his chair as he sped over to Titus. “O-oh, heh, I uh, haven’t used that bag in a while, um, it must’ve been there from years ago or something.” Miles stuttered out as he grabbed the night light from Titus, the feeling of red hot shame covering his face. “But I saw it at the top of your bag.” Titus began, his voice softer than Miles would’ve expected, but he wasn’t thinking about that at the moment. “L-look, lets just get the other controller and not talk about this, okay?” Miles said as he focused his attention on the computer screen, purposely avoiding Titus’ gaze, the room too silent for his liking. And too dark.

…

“…Miles, do you need a-“

“NO! No, I don’t!” Miles snapped, turning to face Titus, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. Titus looked back at him, his face unreadable. Miles hated it, he could feel his heart rate accelerating, the room was too dark. It was too dark. It was too-

The front door was suddenly pushed open. “Titus. We’re home, we got Macca’s.” Titus’ mom called out. “Okay cool there’s food. Let’s go.” Miles huffed, pushing past Titus, stuffing the night light in his pocket. He had forgotten he packed that.

* * *

Miles and Titus sat beside each other silently at the dinner table, eating their MacDonalds while purposefully avoiding each other’s gaze. The silence was uncomfortable. Deafening, even.

Titus’ Mom and Dad sat across from them, eating some cheap cooked steak. Miles was trying to steady his hands as he ate, as his mind was racing a million miles a minute, thoughts attacking his mind like steel knives.

‘ _whats wrong with you how could you forget you had that in there he probably thinks that you’re a fucking weirdo you know what you are a weirdo what kind of pathetic baby still has a fucking night light stupid little cunt hes gonna tell everyone you fucked up the only chance at friendship you had hes probably not even gonna let you stay the night hes gonna just up and throw you out the door you stupid moron you stupid stupid-‘_

“…seen you in a while.”

“Hm?” Miles blinked as he was pulled back into reality, as it kicked in that Titus’ Mom was talking to him.

“I said we haven’t seen you in a while.” Titus’ Mom repeated.

“Oh. Uh, yeah, it has been a little while…” Miles half-mumbled.

“Seems like it was some, what, seven months since you last hung out. What happened?” She asked.

…How do you explain to someone’s mom that you stopped being friends with someone because you accidentally set off a weather machine and caused the first snow in forever which was the figurative straw that broke the camel’s back?

“I, uhh… well-”

“Mum, stop pushing, its fine now, we’re friends again, it doesn’t matter.” Titus interfered, putting an end to his mom’s invasive questions. Miles internally breathed a sigh of relief, at both the conversation ender and the fact that Titus still considered them friends. Maybe he hadn’t fucked it up completely.

Maybe.

* * *

Miles sat on the sleeping bag, watching as Titus readied himself for bed. The game of Group Creatures was a bit more intense than the two had been prepared for, and by the end of it, four hours had passed and the two were definitely ready for bed. Well, correction, Titus was ready for bed. Miles wasn’t.

Truth be told, Miles found the darkness terrifying. When a room’s dark, it stops being a room and becomes a vast empty space of nothingness and evil. Anything can lurk in the dark. Horrific beasts, staring figures, _grabbing hands._ Titus, out of his navy blue jacket and in a simple white tee and track-pants, went to turn off the light, but stopped and looked at Miles, his hand hovering over the switch.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he faltered slightly as Miles sent him a half-hearted glare from his sleeping bag. He tried again.

“…sorry we don’t have a spare mattress.” He said.

“It’s fine.” Miles said.

Titus stood still for a couple seconds before nodding and flipping the switch, plunging the room into pitch blackness. Not a thing could be seen. Miles fumbled around with the night light in his pocket, debating whether he should bring it up or not. Miles could feel his breathing pick up speed, and was about to say something when Titus beat him to it.

“G’night, Miles.”

Miles swallowed thickly and looked to where he thought Titus was. “G’night.”

It was too late now.

* * *

Miles couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black. He could hear Titus snoring somewhere in the room but he couldn’t nail down where. The floor was uncomfortable, the hardwood a lot colder than he’d expected. He didn’t like the dark. Bad things happen in the dark, they always have, their ancestors knew the darkness was bad, that’s why humans invented fire way back when.

‘ _Wait, humans?_ ’ Miles shook the thought from his head. The darkness was getting to him. It was changing him, tearing apart his mind bit by bit. Miles heart rate accelerated and he felt himself beginning to hyperventilate.

‘ _no no no calm down_ _miles its fine miles nothings in the room miles calm down miles STOP IT MILES’_ Miles felt like his heart was gonna burst out of his chest as the room became uncomfortably… cold, hot? No, no, that’s not right. It wasn’t cold or hot… it was something else, something indescribable. Something that wasn’t even a temperature at all.

Miles felt lightheaded as his hyperventilating only got worse, as he felt the hands in the darkness make themselves known. Miles choked down a whimper as they touched everywhere, stroking his head and body through the sleeping bag, moving their gross oily hands across every area they could. They were freezing cold. Tears rolled down Miles’ face as he held his eyes shut, desperately trying to sleep despite the psychological peril he was in.

‘ _where was titus why wasnt he doing anything is he watching me now is he watching me freak out over nothing these hands arent real why do they feel like they are oh god i cant take this i cant take this get out gET OUT GE T O UT-_

Miles scrambled out of his sleeping bag and rushed to Titus’ door, nearly slamming it open as he rushed to get out into the hallway into the light.

The living room had a lamp that was still on. Thank god. Miles practically dove into the light as the hands faded from his peripherals. They were gone, he was safe. Miles let out a shaky sigh of relief, sniffling as he wiped the tear streaks from his face. Repositioning the lamp so that it faced the couch, Miles sighed as he sat down on the cushiony fabric. 

Shame described a lot of what he was feeling right now. What a pathetic display that was, freaking out over something that wasn’t even there. If Titus had woken up at any point during that, he would probably think Miles was a fucking nut job. Hell, he probably already does, considering what had transpired earlier in the study. If he hadn’t fucked it up before, he definitely fucked it up now. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe he shouldn’t have come this weekend? Miles rubbed his eyes, groaning to himself.

Tired also described a lot of what he was feeling right now. Miles decided to try and make himself comfortable on the couch, the cushions becoming less comfortable the more he laid on them. Maybe Saturday’ll be better. Yeah, he just needs to get some sleep. Swallowing thickly, Miles closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

It didn’t work.


	2. Saturday - Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part one of two. Titus and Miles decide to go on an early morning Hungry Jack’s run. It goes... worse than expected.

The first thing that Titus noticed when he woke up was that Miles was absent. While that wasn’t completely unsurprising, considering that Miles was a typical early riser, what was surprising was the fact that Titus had woken up at five in the morning and Miles was absent. On top of that, Titus wasn’t a typical morning riser, so his five am wake up call was especially unusual.

Hell, it was still dark out. Well, sorta. There was some light, but not enough to be considered bright.

Getting up out of bed, Titus took notice of the fact that his window was open. In the middle of June. Also known as Winter. ‘What the hell?’ He thought. ‘Did Miles open that window? It’s June, it’d be too cold.’ Closing the window and putting his jacket,

Titus walked into the lounge room, where he found Miles, who was curled up on the couch with the lamp turned on.

‘Odd.’ He thought.

“Hey.” He said. Miles lifted his head and turned to look at Titus, dark bags under his bloodshot eyes.

“…Hey.” He replied.

“Why are you sleeping on the couch?”

“I, uh, wasn’t sleeping. I didn’t get any sleep.” Titus took a note internally. “Okay… why are you trying to sleep on the couch?”

Miles hesitated for a quick second, almost too quick. Titus took notice. “The floor was um, uncomfortable.”

…

“Okay.”

Titus walked into the kitchen to fix himself up some breakfast. Walking back into the lounge room and sitting down next to Miles, Titus began to think about things while shovelling Rice Bubbles into his mouth. Titus had known Miles for about a year now, and across that year he had come to pick on some things.

The first of which being that Miles was not a personal kind of person… if that made sense. He’d never tell you a thing about his life except for that he was happy to live in it. The few times Titus was able to catch a quote-unquote “glimpse” into Miles’ head were few and far between. Last night was a rare glimpse, as the night light incident gave way to a door that led straight into the emotional terrors that may or may not inhabit Miles’ head.

The way he reacted as well just added more fuel to the figurative fire.

…The way he was thinking about this sounded kinda cruel… it’s not supposed to be. He truly did enjoy Miles’ presence, even if he did annoy him sometimes. It’s just that the way he just keeps on going despite all the bizarre shit that he, and by extension Titus, go through, made him nearly a thousand times more interesting than anyone else in Parkstone.

The way he handles conflict with that dopey and unintentionally patronising smile was part of what intrigued Titus, especially when it backfires, like a couple weeks ago. The other part that intrigued Titus was Miles’ unwillingness to open up about certain topics, despite his cheerful demeanour. That’s part of the reason why he let Miles come over this weekend. The other part being that Titus just wanted to hang out.

* * *

Miles was the kind of person that would chop off his feet so that wouldn’t accidentally step on someone’s toes.

“Oh, did you open my window last night?” Titus asked through a mouthful of Rice Bubbles. Miles looked at him quizzically.

“No? Why would I, it’s June.” He says, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“You want any food?” Miles shakes his head. “I’m really tired.”

Since Miles had a night light in his bag, Titus guessed that he was afraid of the dark.

“Well, it’s practically day, you can go to sleep if you want.”

Another head shake. “Nah, it’s already morning, gotta up and get em, y’know?” He said, stifling a yawn.

Titus nodded.

It was almost six. The world was silent, save for the neighbours fighting over which pet they’ll get in the custody battle.

“You wanna watch some YouTube?”

* * *

Titus looked on in befuddled awe as he just finished an hour long video. If that was what passed as 21stcentury humour, he definitely wasn’t a fan. Looking over to his side, he saw that Miles seemed to agree, considering that he was face down, out cold as night.

Turning back to the screen, Titus pressed play on another video, this time one about an old game from the 70’s called Polybius. He was about to get stuck into it when Miles began to twitch erratically in his sleep. His arms moved across the desk as if in a frenzied state, and he was mumbling and gasping under his breath. ‘Nightmare.’ Titus thought. ‘Or daymare?’

He shook him.

“Miles, wake up.” He said. “Wake up!”

Miles jolted awake, slamming into the back of his chair as he gripped the arms tightly, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He looked at Titus.

“You okay?” Titus asked.

“Y-yeah, just a bad dream. Get those… sometimes.” Miles replied, trying to look nonchalant despite how obviously spooked he was.

Titus felt compelled to prod a bit further, but decided not to. Miles wouldn’t tell him anything anyway, which stung a little bit, considering their year long friendship. But then again, they only recently killed and then revived that same friendship, so Titus couldn’t blame him.

Seeing that it was seven already, Titus closed the computer down and got up out of his chair. “Let’s go to Hungry Jack’s.” He said.

* * *

  
One thing that Titus knew, was that if you walk with Miles long enough, he’ll start talking about whatever thing has grabbed his interest that week.

“Yeah, it’s like where the more safe you feel, the less safe you are, it’s called the Safety Paradox.” Miles rabbled on.

“Really?” Titus replied. Interesting.

“Oh yeah, real life. Isn’t it cool how hum- uh, animal minds work?”

“Mhm, it is.”

It is indeed. Another thing about Miles, and most people like Miles, is that if you let them talk for long enough, they can reveal some interesting things about themselves. That’s when you pounce. The same thing had happened last night during their four hour game session.

* * *

_“HA! Absolutely decimated, you son of a bitch!” Titus had uncharacteristically yelled at the laughing Miles._

_“Whatever, we still have like 12 games left!” Miles said as the next round started up. “You know, I used to play games like these with my brother.”_

_“Yeah?” Titus asked. “I didn’t know you had a brother”_

_“Oh, yeah.” Miles laughed. “No, he left like four years ago, I haven’t seen him since!” He was too entranced with the game to even realise what he’d said. Note taken._

* * *

Miles was all about pleasantries, he would tell you that life is sunshine rainbows when it wasn’t. Titus liked that about him. He was an optimist, which is why his uncharacteristic behaviour kind of rubbed Titus the wrong way. The events of a couple weeks ago combined with what had happened back in November affected Miles more than he let on, and Titus knew it.

Miles just didn’t know that he knew it. That’s why he let him talk so much. He didn’t like seeing Miles down like this.

“And no one knows why they ran from their turnip farm and-oh, we’re here.” Miles stated as the two arrived at the fast food restaurant. ‘ _Already? That was a quick walk.’_ Titus thought to himself.

“Mor-ning Men-u, Mor-ning Men-u, Mor-ning Men-u.” Miles chanted under his breath as the two walked up to the counter.

“Do they have a morning menu at Hungry Jack’s?” Titus asked.

“I don’t know.” Miles admitted. “Do you guys have a morning menu?” Miles asked the cashier.

“No, but we do have a _breakfast_ menu.” She said. Titus rolled his eyes. “Okay, what do you have on it?”

“Well, we have the Bacon N’ Egg Butterball Burger, the Morning Heartbreaker Sodium Sandwich Deluxe…

…and the Grabby Hands Beef Pounder.”

‘Grabby Hands?’

Titus felt Miles tense up beside him, and he saw the smile drop right off his face.

“What’d you say?” He asked, not sure if he heard right.

The cashier looked confused. “The Gravy Hans Beef Pounder?”

‘ _Okay, not sure if that’s even morning food…’_ Titus thought. He must have heard wrong… but Miles must have as well, considering that as soon as he heard the correction he instantly relaxed and the smile returned. Weird.

* * *

Sitting down at a table with their chosen meals, Titus and Miles ate in subdued silence until Miles decided to speak up.

“As I was saying before, no one really knows why they just up and left like that…”

Titus listened attentively while he ate his Bacon N’ Egg Butterball Burger. ($6.50, what a steal) But while he ate, he noticed something odd going on outside.

There was a car on fire. Like, a Honda Civic right smack in the middle of the street, in flames. Like, charred black, windows shattered, absolutely engulfed in a blazing sphere.

What the hell?

Looking around the restaurant, Titus realised that no one else seemed to even give it a second glance. Did no one else see this?

“Hey, hey, hey, shut up for a moment.” Titus said, interrupting Miles rambling story. “That car’s on fire.”

Miles looked out the window. “Holy shit, it is!”

“So you see it too?”

“Well, yeah it’s like an inferno!”

“No one can see it though, it’s like everyone else is focused on something… else…” Titus trailed off as he noticed something else. He didn’t recognise anyone here. Parkstone is a small town, tiny even, yet not a single person looked familiar here. In fact…

“Titus? Titus?” Miles called out, confused by his friend’s sudden attention on everything else.

“Miles… have we ever been to this Hungry Jack’s before?” Titus asked.

“Uhh, yeah, like…” Miles racked his brain. “Back when… I think it was…” He came up with nothing. “What the- why can’t I remember coming here?”

“I think we may be experiencing another one of those… things.” Titus said. “I think we should go.”

Miles and Titus got up to leave, and came face to face with the cashier. “You haven’t finished eating.” She said. “We recommend you finish.” Her smile was unnaturally wide. Titus found it hard to speak suddenly. “Uh, we’re good, we’re just gonna-“ He was interrupted as the cashier practically slammed her hand on his shoulder, and he stare in suppressed horror at the pitch black and oily hand that was staring back at him. Titus could hear Miles let out a choked gasp, as the sight of her hand seemed to trigger something in him.

“Sit down.” She ordered. Titus pulled out of her grip as he felt what seemed like a thousand stares boring into his back, and he looked around the restaurant to see everyone looking straight at them, their faces expressionless and their eyes lifeless as the fire outside seemed to burn even brighter.

Titus grabbed Miles’ shaky hand and ran out of the restaurant and just kept running. Everything went by in a blur as panic burned Titus’ insides. Eventually he felt the crunch of grass and branches under his shoes and realised that they were in the woods.

Soon enough they became too tired to run and stopped, Miles practically falling to the ground out of exhaustion.

“Oh, god.” Miles panted. “I’m so tired. No sleep. Grassy floor is… very comfy…” He said as he began to drift off.

“No, no, wake up, this is bad.” Titus said as he softly kicked Miles in the side. “We’re in the fucking woods! We don’t know where we are.”

Miles, however, was fast asleep.

Titus let out a huff of frustration. “Goddamnit.” He growled.

Looking around, Titus ran his hands through his fur and sighed. “Well, they say the best thing to do in this situation is to stay put.” Sitting down next to Miles, Titus leaned back and just waited…

And waited… and waited… and waited… and waited… and

* * *

…SATURDAy?

Titus jolted awake, gasping. He looked around frantically. ‘ _Where am I??’_ His mind yelled. He was laying on a soft silky surface, that creaked as he moved. Getting up, Titus tried to look around in the dark, and found that it was almost pitch black. Even with his night-vision wolf eyes it was dark as hell. “Miles?” He called out softly. He received no response.

‘ _Shit.’_ He thought.

Stumbling around in the dark, his hands in front of him looking for some sort of thing to grasp, he found a wall. Or rather, he ran straight into one.

“Ow.”

Rubbing his nose, Titus ran his hands along the wall, walking along its length and feeling all around. It seemed that he was in some sort of room.

Eventually, he moved to the far corner and his hand came across something unusual. Running his hands on it, it felt like… a light switch?

Titus flipped it.

The whole room lit up, and Titus looked around to see that it was his room. He was back at home? What the hell? What was going on? His room felt different as well, more… ethereal and disconnected than usual. Looking out his window, he found that he could only see darkness. Looking at his desk clock, it read 10:30PM.

It was 10 at night? Wasn’t it just 7 in the morning? Was that a dream? Did they actually go to Hungry Jack’s? Was it still Saturday? Titus rubbed his eyes in frustration as he felt a headache coming on. This better not be another one of their surreal misadventures, he’s already had enough from last year.

Also, where the fuck was Miles? Opening his door, Titus walked out into the lounge room. No Miles. ‘ _He was here this morning.’_ He thought. He looked in the study room. No Miles. Laundry. No Miles. Bathroom. No Miles. No Miles. No Miles.

“Fuck this.” He spit, grabbing out his phone and bringing up his contact list. Tapping on Miles name, he held his phone up to his ear and waited.

Listening out, Titus could hear Miles’ ringtone echoing throughout the house. Walking around with his phone still on his ear, Titus could hear it coming from…

…the cellar.

Titus stood outside the cellar door, listening in. Yeah, it’s definitely in there. He’s gotta be in there. Titus pulled the door open as Miles’ ringtone distorted in his ears. Walking down the steps, the ringing was drowned out by thumping. Loud, drum like thumps barrelled through his ears. Each step he took through the cellar a new horrific noise would overtake his mind, wriggling, squishing, whispering, crying. The cellar was covered in a red haze, sulphur burning his eyes, making it hard to see.

Then he saw it. The phone. The ringtone still blaring like a siren. Soaked in black… whatever that stuff is. But Titus wasn’t focusing on that. His attention was elsewhere, on something more horrifying. All the thumps, gurgles, wriggling and sulphur fading from his being as he saw it.

It was Miles. He was lying on the ground as dozens, if not hundreds of oily black hands ran all over him, rubbing themselves everywhere they could. Pulling at his mouth, chest, eyes, everything. His shirt was gone, torn to shreds by their malicious digits. He could do nothing but shiver as he whimpered and gasped, tears rolling down his cheeks as two oily fingers held his eyes open.

“M-Miles?!” Titus had to stop himself from vomiting.

Miles tried to turn his eyeballs to Titus.

“T-T itus…” He called out weakly through shuddering breaths. “Pl-please ha-help me…”


End file.
